West Family Investments Inc. Trims Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

West Family Investments Inc. reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,107 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,089 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PEP. Claris Advisors LLC MO boosted its position in PepsiCo by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 2,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 5,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 114,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,098,000 after acquiring an additional 36,239 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.5% during the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 25,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 2.3% in the second quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 26,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,469,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $148.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $203.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $146.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.09. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $163.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. PepsiCo had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 57.58%. The business had revenue of $23.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 108.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.90.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.